Chapter 10
CHAPTER TEN
As the ladies gathered at breakfast the next day, with Mr Bennet behind his newspaper, Mrs Bennet apparently decided the time had come for some deeply felt chastisement of her eldest daughter.
“Jane, it is unkind of you to allow Mr Bingley to continue his attentions. Consider the other girls in the district for whom he could be a fine match. They have not your connexions, dear, and a wealthy man from trade will do well enough for many of them.”
Jane was agape at this astonishing speech, and Elizabeth interceded. “Mama, I believe Mr Bingley is a fine match for Jane, and they appear to like each other very much. I cannot imagine why you are not more pleased with him, but as long as Jane is, nothing else really matters.”
“The sister of a countess married to a man in trade. No, indeed, it is not done.”
“I care only that Jane should marry and be happy with a man she loves.”
“Oh, I see what this is about.” Mrs Bennet scowled.
“You know as well as I that, if Jane had been with you in Bath, his lordship never would have looked at you. Now, as you are required to go back to London seeking a husband, you want to have your beautiful sister out of the way, and who better than Mr Bingley to take her? I shall not hear of it. He is wholly unsuitable, and you are a very selfish girl!”
Elizabeth was stunned by this ridiculous speech. “My only concern is my sister’s felicity in marriage.”
“What greater felicity can there be than a wealthy and powerful husband?”
Jane recovered sufficiently to respond. “Mama, I like Mr Bingley very much. He is everything a young man should be, kind and amiable. I care not one bit where his money has come from.”
“Nonsense!” Mrs Bennet cried stridently. “You will accompany Lizzy to town for the Season, where you will attend balls and parties and meet so many wonderful gentlemen that you will scarcely be able to choose—gentlemen with titles and fortunes that make Bingley’s wealth look like nothing.”
Jane protested, “But I do not—”
“I shall hear no more of this! No more Mr Bingley!” Mrs Bennet set her utensils down firmly, stood, and swept indignantly from the room.
Jane cast a troubled glance at Elizabeth, who reached over and patted her hand.
“If you fall in love with Mr Bingley and he loves you in return, let nothing stand in your way, not even Mama. Once we are in town, we will see him often, and I will see to it that he has an invitation to any party we attend.” She smiled mischievously at her sister.
“Perhaps his close friendship with a countess will raise his connexions enough for even Mama.”
“Lizzy, I do not wish to embarrass you or do anything improper—”
“My dearest wish for you is a love like the love I had in my marriage, brief as it was. You know that Henry’s wealth and title meant nothing to me.
What meant everything was his love. Unfortunately, I am left with merely the title and wealth, but although I had his love only briefly, I would not have lived without it for anything. ”
Tears formed in Elizabeth’s eyes, but she blinked them away. “A marriage without love is a grim prospect. Dearest, you must stand up to Mama, whether it is Mr Bingley or any other man most fortunate to earn your affection. Do not give up on it—not for her, not for anyone.”
“Dearest, you must stand up to Mama.” It was these last words that came back to haunt Elizabeth two days later as she rode towards Netherfield.
The previous morning, a note had arrived from Caroline Bingley entreating Jane to dine with her and Mrs Hurst for the gentlemen were to dine with the officers of Colonel Forster’s regiment.
When the note was received as the Bennets were at breakfast, Mrs Bennet had snatched it from Jane’s hand and, after reading it aloud, pronounced, “What elegant handwriting Miss Bingley has, and how very gracious of her to invite you to dine. You must be equally gracious in your refusal.”
“Refusal?” Jane said in surprise. “I am pleased to dine with Miss Bingley and Mrs Hurst this evening.”
“Oh, Jane, really! You need not spend your time with these ladies or their brother. Enjoy a quiet evening at home; you will have little rest once you get to town. Why, there will be parties and balls and evenings at Almack’s to entertain you almost every night, and in between, the opera, the theatre, teas, dinner parties—”
Elizabeth interrupted her mother’s fantasies. “But for now, we are in Hertfordshire, and the sisters of a gentleman that Jane esteems wish to know her better. I think she should go.”
Mrs Bennet shot a glare in Elizabeth’s direction. “Jane, you will not go to Netherfield for dinner, and that is the end of it.”
Jane stood so abruptly that her chair nearly toppled over. Glaring at her mother, she stated, “I will go to Netherfield tonight for dinner. I am in love with Mr Bingley, and I shall further this acquaintance with his sisters because I very much hope that they will one day be my sisters!”
The entire breakfast table was shocked into silence by this unprecedented display of defiance from Jane, as well as the sentiments she revealed.
“Very well, but you will not use your father’s carriage,” remarked Mrs Bennet with deceptive calm.
Jane, red-faced and shaking with anger, proclaimed, “Then I shall walk.” She fled the room.
Thus Jane set out on foot, but unfortunately, she was caught in a rainstorm.
She arrived at Netherfield wet, muddy, and on the verge of a fever.
Although her dress was quickly taken care of by the house staff, nothing could be done to avert the fever that rapidly overtook her.
This led to her instalment in one of the guest apartments to the delight of Mr Bingley and the dismay of Mrs Bennet.
“I do hope you are happy, Lizzy,” said Mrs Bennet upon receipt of the note from Netherfield. “If Jane should die, it will be due to you encouraging her to pursue Mr Bingley.”
“It is just a cold, Mama,” Elizabeth protested. “People do not die of trifling colds. However, I do believe I shall go to Netherfield to see how she fares. Neither Mrs Hurst nor Miss Bingley strike me as the sort to nurse an ill guest.”
“Go at once. By all means, get her home before this Bingley fellow does something to induce her to marry him.”
Elizabeth was truly concerned with the state in which she found her sister. Jane was alarmingly warm and had a sore throat and severe headache. Not surprisingly, neither Miss Bingley nor Mrs Hurst had been particularly solicitous to her, and Elizabeth decided the apothecary was needed directly.
Smoothing Jane’s hair, she assured her that she would return shortly and proceeded to the breakfast room, where she assumed she would find her host and hostess to request their assistance.
She paused in the hall, not intending to eavesdrop on the conversation occurring therein but overhearing it, nevertheless.
“And now we must entertain her sister as well? Dear me, will all the Bennets be set upon us?” Miss Bingley’s voice dripped with displeasure at the notion.
Mr Bingley replied, his tone mild, “I think it very kind of Miss Elizabeth to come and see to her sister.”
Miss Bingley sniffed. “Such a sight it was when Miss Bennet arrived! Quite shocking—petticoats six inches deep in mud and the lady soaked to the skin! I had no notion country society was so lacking that a lady would walk three miles alone and through a rainstorm.”
Mr Bingley replied, “The severity of the storm was unexpected. I am certain Miss Bennet had no warning of it when she set out.”
Mrs Hurst argued, “No lady who had any understanding of refined society would have continued through the storm. Once she realised how dreadful she looked, she should have returned home straightaway.”
“Mr Darcy,” Miss Bingley drawled. “You would surely not want your sister to make such a spectacle.”
“No, I would not.”
Elizabeth heard their censure and despised them all the more for it. She considered it an excellent time to enter the room and leave them to wonder whether their uncharitable remarks were overheard.
Mr Bingley, the only one who had been charitable, was also the only one to appear guilty on her entry. “Miss Elizabeth! How does Miss Bennet?”
“Very poorly, I fear. Would you be so kind as to summon the apothecary?”
He agreed, and with this, Miss Bingley and Mrs Hurst rose with a sudden sickly-sweet concern, exclaiming over dear Jane, and how dreadful it was to be ill, and oh, how she must suffer, and on and on until Elizabeth thought she might be taken ill herself from the nauseating insincerity.
They did as they should, however, and soon the apothecary arrived, and Elizabeth found herself with an invitation to remain at Netherfield.
When Miss Elizabeth appeared for dinner that night, she was met by an unwelcoming group.
Mr Bingley was, of course, all that was kind and solicitous, but once at the table, she was placed too far away from him for his kindness to have any effect.
She sat beside Mr Hurst, who was interested in nothing that did not rest on his plate, and across from Mrs Hurst, who divided her attention between her sister and playing with her bracelets.
The dinner passed with merciful swiftness, and immediately afterwards, Elizabeth went to attend to Jane, pleased to find her in a peaceful sleep.
Despite wishing she could remain in her own apartment, she had no cause for remaining upstairs.
Indeed, she owed it to her host and hostess to join them in the drawing room.
Much as she knew she was unwanted, she did not wish to give way to poor manners, for they had done her a kindness in inviting her to stay.
She found the group engaged in various occupations. Mrs Hurst read a small publication, Mr Hurst and Mr Bingley played cards, and Mr Darcy was at a writing desk, with Miss Bingley close by and intent on his actions. She watched the pair with some amusement.
“How delighted Miss Darcy will be to receive such a letter!”